Vinyl–It cuts like butter!-Once you get the hang of it!

How to weed and apply transfer tape
Part two.  How to clean up a font

You must have 6 things…which I will explain in detail below.

1 - Machine

2 – Blade

3 - Mat

4 – Vinyl

5 – Tools

6 – Transfer Tape

---

1 - Machine

Those of you, who know me, know I have had an electronic die cutter since the Circuit Expressions came out.  It was limiting…..I sold it for a Pazzles Inspiration.  Best tool I have ever bought, since 2003!  Now that’s a mouthful.

I will say it again, best tool I have ever bought, since 2003!

Reason…It cut’s more material than the others in it’s price range.  Including pastry (yea I said that even cookies)  The Training in the Craft Room is invaluable.  What good is a machine, if you can’t use it?  Well, the support and training is superior.  For that reason along, I would recommend this machine….and I don’t get any money for saying that…I have no connection with the company to say that, other than being a satisfied customer for years, and I am on my second machine.  Sold the first one, nothing was wrong with it, the company just came out with a new model and I HAD to HAVE it.  It’s called the Vue.

2 – Blade

Just the same blade that comes with your machine….BUT….a new one.  or one that has NEVER cut paper.  Then ONLY use this blade with Vinyl.

3 – Mat

Your mat is important.  Get one mat and ONLY use it for Vinyl.  Be very careful with it.  If it is a new mat….you really have to condition it so that when you pull up your vinyl, it does not stretch it.  How to condition your mat, instructions can be found here.  The key is….You have to do this maybe 3 times….Vinyl is more sensitive than paper  If you have a paper mat, that is working well and is very very clean with no cuts in the mat, I would suggest using that one.  It takes a long time to get a new mat conditioned.

When you put your vinyl on the mat, make sure nothing is on the mat.  Practice taking the protector off and hanging it on the wall…it’s very important that your mat is clean.  I had my hubby hang a hook by my machine…

After I inspect my mat I put my vinyl down on it.

Then I squeegee it down, to ensure my vinyl will not slip.  If my mat is getting old…I use painter’s tape around the edges…but that rarely is needed.

 

4 – Vinyl

Ok ALL Vinyl is not EQUAL.  Trust me on this!  I bet a good year went by before I ever cut vinyl the 2nd time!  I hated it!  Then I tried again, and hated it again.  Let’s just say, the vinyl I owned came off ebay…Goodness knows what brand it was……….let’s just say, it was the vinyl from hell.

With that said, and after the experience I had, I will only cut vinyl I purchase from http://www.expressionsvinyl.com/   

Maybe when I get braver, I will try buying it from somewhere else.  My vinyl from there costs me about 1.99 per 12X24 sheet.  I buy it in the rolls. 

See this “bump”

Look what it was…

 

Grass and a hair…..I simply lifted up my vinyl to that point, and removed it, then laid my vinyl back down.

See those bubbles?

When you squeegee your vinyl down, start in the middle and push out to all edges.  If you see a bubble then start in the middle and squeegee towards the edge

As long as the vinyl does not wrinkle you are good to go

This is a bad cut.  Two things here I want to point out, that I have found true for me.  This cut was made in Pro 2014.  Pro 2014 recommends the blade length to be 1.5.  I don’t cut as well in Pro 2014, so I did the second cut in InVue with a blade length of 1.0.  Just my preference.  Pro probably would have made the same cut changing the blade length….

Here is what the back of the sheet looks like….Do not Cut through to the paper like this.  It’s very hard to weed, and very hard to hang.  Not impossible, but if vinyl is done right, it’s a dream to weed and hang.

You probably can’t see this, but both cuts are side by side  The good cut is on top…no tearing of the vinyl, or of the backing paper

Remember to hang up your mat.  My protective sheet is behind my mat.  On the protective sheet I took a Permanent Marker and wrote “Vinyl Only – This side Up”  That tells me which side to put down on my mat, when I am finished working on it.

5 – Tools

Now for weeding!  I love this part!  Ok tool on the left, is a bondo scrapper.  Pretty cheap, just go to Lowe’s.  I paid 3X’s as much for the scrapper on the left.  I use this to squeegee my vinyl down and to squeegee down my transfer tape and to apply my vinyl on my wall or other surface.

….  Next tool is a craft knife.  I use this to cut around my letters when weeding, or to cut off a good piece of vinyl to save that would otherwise be thrown away.  Great when I have lots of lines that are close to each other.  Those are hard to weed and sometimes hard to separate with scissor, so I use a craft knife and cut only through the vinyl…not the backing paper.

The next 6 and the blue tool next to the scrapper….are tools I bought on line.  Just search for Craft Dental Picks or tools.  These are soooooooooo wonderful.  they help with all kinds of weeding tasks.  The green one is a cricuit tool  I use it to lift up the vinyl…very rarely, but I do have it.  The far right one I believe I bought from Pazzles, I use that one rarely.

Scrapper…I clean my mat with this….when I have lots of junk left over on it.

I forgot to say Scissors!  I love these scissors…..no other one do I ever want to pick up.  I need about 3 more of these!  Tim Holtz is the brand.

Ok, back to business.  The first thing I do, is separate my images.  See the two pieces on the left?  One is the bad cut and the bottom is the good cut.

The square on the right is a pieces with nothing on it.  I save these pieces for other projects…they work perfectly on cups!  You could use the craft knife to do this with or the scissors.

I usually start in the corner and hold my finger down on the Vinyl piece I want to keep and kinda “pop” up the piece I am weeding away.  Hope this makes since.  Most the time, I can just wiggle the vinyl left and right and I am all done weeding.  All the vinyl that will be tossed just comes right up.  This piece, has VERY delicate cuts…So I have to be a bit more patient and carful. 

;When it’s a delicate cut I take one of the dental tools and run it around the outside cuts.  Hope you can tell that from the photo.  See how its now separated?  It’s rather hard to take photos while I’m doing this…so I pray, this is making since.  Oh my goodness!  I forgot to tell you about my light!  If I did not have this light, I would not be able to see to weed….gosh, I’m getting old!

Can you see the line around the top of the image?  That is what I was trying to show you in the photo above.  It has already been separated.  I use the dental tool to “pick up” the inside pieces like I am doing below

This is the best thing I learned when I first started weeding.  To cut away what you don’t need ASAP.  You know, if you don’t do this…by the time you get to the end of the piece its sticking back to the vinyl you do need!  DUH  I bet I am the only one who did this…until it dawned on me to cut it off, so I am lifting and cutting constantly, IF the vinyl doesn’t wiggle off right away…which would mean, no need to do this…remember, this is a delicate cut…most cuts are not this hard.

See, I weeded a little and cut it off.  Of course I have a hand problem…this technique just works for me.  Less to hold and I can see better where I am at.

All done!  Vinyl makes my life GRAND!  LOL!

6 – Transfer Tape

I prefer the Clear Transfer Tape, which I purchase from Expressions.  I bought the 12 X 100 Yard… I like the clear because you can see through it to place it on the vinyl and you can see through it when you go to put it on your project. 

Ok, for my cut, I need a piece that is 2.5 X 17.  My roll is 12 across.  So, I cut off a piece that is about a inch bigger than 17.  Thank you Hubbie for letting me take this photo.  The ruler sticks to the transfer paper and that allows me to cut it pretty straight.

I then “bow” the transfer tape over the top of the cut.  Since I can see through it, it’s pretty easy to place.  I always put down the transfer tape in the middle first and just let the ends “fall”  You want to get it pretty much right the first time, then squeegee it out.

For this one I placed it way at the bottom.  (I have to make 10 of these cuts, so I will use the left over transfer tape on the others.  Until then, I just stick the “left over” tape back on the roll.

All done!  9 more to go!

I need 10 of these cuts, so I only cut one, to see how it cut.  It works but was a bit to much work, I will create another blog, showing you what I do in the software to “clean” it up, so that weeding is much easier.  It took me about 3 minutes to weed, which is to much work, if I can clean it up. 

It makes it worth it to me, taking the time to take the photos and put this together, if you comment!  I love your comments!  If you take the time to read this, please leave a comment!

My Husband and Father-In-Law Fired Me!

 

I really have to laugh at that title.  Have you ever tried something new to you, that you had never ever tried before and was tickled pink with your results?

These shutters put in time….on the front of my house for 42 years.  I did not have the heart to throw them away.

I needed a headboard for a new bed we just purchased…..

This was my first time using Annie Sloan Paint & Wax.  Now, you have to know, I have been married for 36 years.  My dear sweet father-in-law, Joe AND my husband would fire me every time I picked up a paint brush.  We had several rentals for ever and was always having to paint…after a while, I just quite trying and was satisfied to be a gofer. 

So………….You CAN teach an Old Dog new Tricks! 

My second project was a wall clock.  I had tried several different photo transfer techniques I found on you-tube using Mod podge or acrylic gel as a top coat…but holey smoley, when I tried Annie Sloan Clear Wax and Dark Wax, the result was simply beautiful!.  Here is the wall clock.  My order for the clock has not arrived yet, so…yep, I cut some vinyl hands.  Have I mentioned I love my Pazzles Machine?

This is my next project.  Larry is putting a drop cloth in the living room as we speak (wait is that term appropriate here?  HA  Well, I think, I am talking to you…so, I am going to leave it in.

Pretty rough wouldn’t you say?  I am so excited about this piece, for one, I purchased it from a beautiful young lady, that I met when she was 4 years old.  So, this piece will be special to me, because it came from Sky!  It will always remind me of Pismo Beach..Camping, Smores around the campfire and playing cards with the cutest little girl, who has grown up to be a beautiful woman!

WOYWW - 273

Well, it’s almost 5:00 PM on a Wednesday….and I remembered all you crafty folks from around the world!  It’s What's On Your Work Desk Wednesday!  Crafty folks from around the world share just what their work desk looks like on Wednesday…No cleaning up first!  Stop over at Julia’s to take a visual trip around the world of others, just like you!  This is the 273rd week that Julia has hosted with wonderful event.

I have been working on a photo clock….the placement of the “frames” is haunting me…You can see above I just coated my first wood transfer Gel, it’s still wet.

Getting the “round” look to a clock is just haunting me…

This was my first attempt….tacking 5 X 7 pieces of black typing paper on the wall…

After looking at it for a day…decided it was to large..  I like this size better.  Tomorrow, Hubby is going to help me level it out.

 

Then I can cut my vinyl and place “Time Spent with family Is worth every second” in the center.

Hope to finish that tomorrow.

Picking out 12 family photos and transferring them to wood and distressing them, now that’s going to be a challenge…but I love getting my fingers in ink so that’s the fun part.

Today, I made some blackberry and cherry pies in little mason jars….thought I would share with you.  They are in the oven now and they smell yummy!

Have a wonderful week!

What’s On Your Workdesk? Wednesday 270

I have been working on organizing my scraps AGAIN!  I think this might be a winner for me.  I have collected scraps for 11 years and they are WAY out of control.  Notice I said THEY are out of control, NOT ME. 

In the box to the left are my solid color scraps I have cut up into sizes.  This includes my card bases.  The patterned paper will basically be cut into card base size.  So, this should make my life easier, I am thinking…If the solid paper is not 3 inches….I will be tossing it…and if the patterned paper is not  4 1/4 X 5…not so sure I will be tossing that yet.

As I use this system, I will let you know if it works for me or not…

Now for some fun.  I am writing this on Thursday, because….I had preordered a new Pazzles Vue and it arrived!  Yippie Skippy!  It’s actually Thursday, because I stayed up late going through my book and trying to import a digi for the Cut and Print feature. 

Now trying to find a simple digi to work with . . . Cute Cow!

It was late…I missed some of his foot, poor Daisy the cow.  Ok, now to quickly color Miss Daisy after midnight…

lNo fussy cutting.  This was my first attempt, and I had moved my outline prior to cutting.  Had it not been so late, I would have fixed it.  Tasks for today:

Making the “white” not show up by doing an inline cut.

I am really impressed with the cut and print feature, after doing this quickie.

Have a wonderful week my friends!  If you are wondering what WOYWW is, hop on over to the Stamping Ground to peek at craft desks all over the world.

What's On Your Workdesk? Wednesday 269

WOW, I have not done a post for WOYWW since November 24, 2013.  Time sure goes by fast!

I have missed this group!  Guess what!  I finally retired!  I have been so busy working on my house that I have done very little card making.  I have however been busy making vinyl wall hangings for my home, sewing pillows for my patio set, making burlap roses….mason jar soap dispensers, homemade laundry soap, canning stuff from the garden (I think most are are blogged) but….no cards!

What is up with that!

I ordered a cute little Halloween stamp, and this morning it looked so ignored on my VERY MESSY Desk…while working on it, I remembered WOYWW and decided to pop in and say “Hi” and see if I could find Julia’s purple glasses.  If you don’t know what WOYWW is….Pop over to Julia’s Stamping Ground and check it out…

Now, what is on that desk…goal for today, clean craft room….I hate it when my desk is a mess…really and truly…The flowers just above the Halloween card are fabric…you can see my burlap flower project. This project started off, because I wanted one of those cute Mason Jar Soap Dispensers in each bathroom.  Well that was easy enough.  Even made my own soap to go in them (1 C shredded soap (I used old hotel soap I hoarded and 1 C water, boil till dissolved).  Of course I needed to decorate the jar, which lead to decorating the old Dixie cup holder you see and my towel basket.

Do you see that little pin cushion, just above the card….so simple………..yeah right, for everyone but me…a girlfriend was over, and for the life of us, after we stuffed the lid we could not screw it back on the mason jar….finally found another tutorial that made since to me and it worked.  Thank goodness for YouTube.  Simple project………………..took 1/5 day to figure out….must be my age…

Well that’s all for today…praying I don’t wait another 8 months to visit!

How to Make a Burlap Rose–Part 3

My Journey of trying to cut Burlap with a Pazzles Inspiration Electronic Die Cut Machine – PART 3

Part 1 - How to prepare your Burlap
Part 2 – How to Assemble the Rose.

Well, mud on my face, I was unsuccessful!  I was just told that sometimes a steel die just works….and I truly could have made 100 Roses by now, by not fiddling with this.

But just incase you want to give this a go, I will tell you what I did, and if you figure this out, please let me know!

I took prepared burlap (prepared burlap from now on will mean, I have dipped it in the 50% mod podge and water to stiffen it) and used painter’s tape to tape down to my mat.  I used the balsa wood setting with the blade at 6.  The burlap moved, Had to stop my machine.

I put the raw burlap on my mat and covered it with clear contact paper.  This cuts but you really can’t see the shape well. 

I put the prepared burlap on my mat and covered it with clear contact paper. This cut’s but slips

I tried it again, but sandwiched the prepared burlap between the contact paper. 

I sandwiched the prepared burlap between two sheets of freezer paper and fused it by ironing it.  This performs like the contact paper, except the paper get’s cut perfectly, so when you do a second pass it lifts up.  Contact paper is better.

Oh dear God, where was my mind?  I sandwiched the burlap between two sheets of red tape.  Worked!  but…..OF COURSE it leaves the burlap sticky on both sides….another No-GO and this brainy idea of mine, could have been a blooper!

It just dawned on me, while typing this, to fuse the freezer paper to the burlap and cover it with the red tape…Just measured the thickness it’s 1.69MM which is under the 2.0MM limit of the machine.

I am going to post this, as I need to have a rest from this project.  Have you ever worked on a problem so long that you just don’t want to do it any more?

Sorry folks….at this time, I would highly recommend using the BIGZ die.

 

How to make a Burlap Rose–Part 2

How to prepare burlap for die cutting – Part 1
My journey trying to cut burlap on my Pazzles - Part 3 

Please refer to Part 1, How to prepare your Burlap for Mechanical Die Cutting or Electronic Die Cutting.

Now that you have your burlap dipped in glue, dried and trimmed up, you are ready to cut!

What you will need:

• Sizzix Flower Layers #5
• Sizzix Big Shot
  • or other compatible manual die cut machine.  Product number is 113429 for a Big Shot

Notice I have laid my burlap covering the big flower.  I of course covered with another clear plate and ran this through.

Easy Peasy!

I slid the burlap over and cut the second one.  Of course if you want the little flower you could just cover your die and cut normally.  To make a Rose, you will need three each of this large flower.

I was not happy about all the burlap stuck on my new die!  I found that these lent free towels do a wonderful job of cleaning them up.

Hum…had to go make breakfast, took a shot of this…I think it should say Grease a Marie Callender’s Pie Tin, not a round cake pan…I’m Just Sayen…

The best way to learn how to do a rose is to watch Lorinda's Video.

I’m just going to give you photo’s so that if you are like me, you want to print it out and follow along…

WPC File Of Sizzix Die
Cut up WPC File
InVue PGV File
SVG File
JPG File

This should make since, after you watched Lorinda’s Video.  Should I say, I pray it makes since!

All the black lines are cut lines

• Flower #1
  • Cut between the petals, one time to the center.
  • Cut between the petals approximately 1/4 inch.
  • Cut the top of the petal off just to the right of your cut to the center of the flower and throw away.
• Flower #2 and saved piece.
  • Cut between the petals, one time to the center.
  • Cut one entire petal off and Save it.
  • Cut the top of the petal off, just to the right of your “V Cut” or maybe better said, just to the right of your center cuts, and throw away.
  • Cut between the petals approximately 1/4 inch.
  • From your saved petal, cut two petals, it will resemble a heart when done.
• Flower #3
  • Cut between the petals, one time to the center.
  • Cut two petals off. and Save it.
  • Cut the top of the petal off, just to the right of the above cut out and throw away.
  • Cut between the petals approximately 1/4 inch.
  • From your saved petal, cut 4 petals, it will look like two joined hearts

Flower # 1

Here is where the video is much better than the photos to learn.

Just notice this layer has 5 petals after you have hot glued it.

I took a skewer and rolled each petal under

Then place it on the table and slightly pushed the flower down in the middle to slightly shape it.

Flower #2

Do the same thing as you did to flower #1, EXCEPT turn it over and snip the bottom so you have a gaping hole in it.  Remember to save the heart for later.

 

Snip Snip!

Remember to roll your petals down.

On the back side of flower #2, put some hot glue all round the gaping hole. 

It was so dern hard to put the glue on, keep it hot, snap a photo with the other hand and NOT show you those ugly nails….

Sit the second flower down into flower #1, off sitting the petals.  I take a skewer and push all around to make sure its down nice and tight.

Ah, reward……..it’s starting to come together!  WhoooHoooo!

hum…wine must have gotten to me…and you…it’s really not blurry…it’s the wine…..

Do the same thing to flower #3, as you did flower #2.  Notice it only has three petals.

Take your saved piece and cut 4 petals…  Save it and flip flower #3 over put hot glue all around the outside and press it into your budding rose….offsetting the petals.

Who’s fingers are those anyways?

Ok, now it get’s a bit hard to explain.  Take the saved piece that has 4 petals.  Roll it tightly up and release it.  This softens the burlap and breaks it down a bit.

Put Hot glue on the edge and roll it up again.  You are making the inner petal.

Take your last saved piece that looks like a heart, soften it a bit and glue it to the outside of the other inner petal.

Here is something I do that’s a bit different.  I take that inner piece, and place it in the flower we have built so far.  In my opinion the inner petal is standing up to high

So, I cut the tip off.  I sit it back in the flower and it looked great, so next I filled up the gaping hole with hot glue well, not full, but was generous.

Place the inner petal into the center…..hold it for a bit till the glue hardens.  It will release from how you rolled it…that’s ok.

YOU did it!  Whew!

After I did two of them, I no longer have to look at my notes!  It’s really quite simple, and comes together quickly…not counting prepping the burlap that is!

Ok, next blog post will be how to cut burlap on an electronic die cut machine, God willing!